Court: DA can reargue case

Rare bench ruling affects vehicular homicide case

Updated 8:54 pm, Monday, November 12, 2012

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Peter Goldblatt

Peter Goldblatt

Court: DA can reargue case

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ALBANY — A state appeals court will allow the Warren County district attorney to reargue her case after the court's August ruling overturned the aggravated vehicular homicide conviction of an Indian Lake man who was drunk when his vehicle struck and killed two people.

The charge was not raised by either Hogan or Goldblatt's attorney during arguments last summer in front of the appellate court. But the judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict him of the charge.

Goldblatt, 41, was driving the sport utility vehicle that hit and killed two college-age counselors from the United Kingdom at 11:23 p.m. June 24, 2010. The pair were part of a group working at a summer camp in the Adirondacks.

Goldblatt was convicted of the homicide charge as well as lesser charges of first-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, third-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. He is serving 5 to 15 years on the remaining charges at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility.

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The court's decision to allow Hogan to reargue her case is rarely seen in New York courts.

If Hogan's arguments are successful, Goldblatt's sentence of 81/3 to 25 years on the homicide charge could be restored. The sentences for all the charges are being served concurrently.

In August, the appellate division ordered a retrial on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge, ruling that prosecutors did not provide convincing evidence to the jury that Goldblatt acted in a "reckless" manner, a requirement for conviction.

Hogan said the court's ruling was a surprise, because during the appeal before the justices earlier this year neither prosecutors nor Goldblatt's attorney, Reed Smith of New York City, argued the matter of the charge or whether Hogan proved the defendant acted recklessly.

The appellate division will hear the arguments Nov. 19.

Smith could not be reached for comment.

Goldblatt, an employee of his family's business, Cedar River Golf Club, was drunk and speeding when he swerved off Golf Course Road in Warrensburg and plowed into a group of counselors standing along the side of Hudson Street near an entrance to Camp Echo Lake. The camp was set to open in two days.

According to trial testimony, Goldblatt initially refused to take a blood alcohol test. Two hours after the crash, he tested 0.11 percent, an estimated 0.15 percent at the time of the crash, or nearly twice the legal limit, prosecutors argued. Testimony showed he had been drinking at his family's golf club, left and bought a beer at a Stewart's store. Police recovered the beer Goldblatt tried to throw away near the crash scene, according to evidence at the trial.

Hogan said she does not want to retry the case because the families and witnesses, besides having to travel a long way for another trial, do not want to go through the grief again. If her arguments are unsuccessful, Hogan plans to ask the state Court of Appeals to hear the matter.

"They're empathetic and compassionate people who do not want the kids who were there when their son and daughter were killed to have to endure the emotional burden of a retrial," Hogan said.

Goldblatt would be eligible for parole in December 2015 if the aggravated vehicular homicide conviction is not reinstated.